The narrative surrounding the new album by Damien Jurado is a juicy one: A well-regarded singer/songwriter whose last three dense, psychedelic studio albums were created with the help of producer Richard Swift reverses course with his next LP. He decides to make an acoustic album—just guitar and vocals—and record it quickly, using all first takes. In the studio, he knocks them out, one right after the other, in about two hours.
“I think there was a trip to 7-Eleven somewhere in there,” Jurado says.
The subtext of the creation of In the Shape of a Storm, this spare, engrossing new album, is the sheer confidence it takes to pull off a move like that. Jurado already had some of that spirit in him; most folks couldn’t get onstage and pour their art out for all to see without some measure of self-assurance. But over the course of his two-decade career, Jurado’s faith in his abilities has continued to grow, bolstered by the fanbase he’s accumulated along the way and the support of figures like Swift.